Category: End of Financial Year

May 19, 2021 Accounts, End of Financial Year

Tax Tips for Property Investors

If you have income from investment properties, now is the time to start gathering your records and reviewing your expenses for the 2021 financial year.

Income to Declare

All income earned from each property must be declared. If you have multiple properties, keep the records for each property separate to make the tax return more efficient.

  • Rent received, whether paid directly to you or through an agent or through an online management platform. Rent includes recurring regular amounts as well as any lump sum amounts paid in advance.
  • Rental bonds returned (eg. if the tenant caused damage or defaulted on rent payment).
  • Insurance payouts received as compensation.
  • Expenses reimbursed by the tenant (eg. if they have caused damage and you have paid for the cost of fixing the damages, or if they have reimbursed you for water).
  • Extra fees received (eg. letting or booking fees).
  • Government rebates (eg. installation of solar utilities).

You will need statements or recipient created tax invoices from agents or management platforms and documents for all other payments received.

Tax Deductions

Deductible expenses for property are different for residential and commercial properties. Not all expenses related to owning a property are allowed as deductions, so it’s important to check what you can claim.

  • Advertising for tenants
  • Body corporate fees
  • Council rates
  • Water supply charges
  • Land tax
  • Cleaning, gardening, pest control and property maintenance
  • Insurance
  • Agent fees
  • Repairs and maintenance
  • Some legal expenses
  • Loan interest

Other Expenses

There are some expenses which need to be claimed over a longer period such as several years or decades. These can include borrowing expenses, capital expenditure, depreciation, initial repairs and capital works.

Some expenses cannot be claimed for. These include stamp duty, loans and repayments, some legal expenses and some insurance premiums.

Get Help to Simplify Your Property Records

Tax matters for property investors can be complex. The ATO keeps a close eye on tax returns that involve property investment, as it’s easy to make mistakes. There are other matters to consider such as the period of rental availability, private use of the property, capital gains tax, legal contracts and positive or negative gearing.

April 7, 2021 Accounts, Bookkeeping, End of Financial Year, Superannuation

Super Guarantee Rate is Set to Rise from July – Are You Prepared?

The superannuation guarantee statutory rate has remained at 9.5% since July 2014. However, plans have been in place for some years now to increase the rate to 12% incrementally.

In July 2021, the rate will rise to 10%. From then on the rate will increase by 0.5% each year until July 2025 when it will reach the legislated 12%.

Prior to the delayed 2020 federal budget there was discussion about the possibility of deferring the rate rise because of COVID-19. However, the rate rise had been postponed from 2018 to 2021, so the plans to start increasing the rate each year remain in place – at least for now.

Prepare Now for the July Rate Rise

  • Review your current superannuation costs for all employees, both hourly and salaried.
  • Review any salary packaging arrangements. Is the agreement inclusive of superannuation or is super paid on top of the agreed salary?
  • For salary packages inclusive of super, you will need to check the contract’s wording to make sure you apply the changes correctly. This change may also impact annualised salary arrangements.
  • Calculate your revised payroll costs from July, showing the current wages and superannuation expense compared to the new rate from July 2021. Highlight the increased amount per month or quarter, so you know precisely what the impact will be.
  • Discuss the super rate increase with your employees now. Let them know that this is the first year since 2014 that the rate has risen and that unless the law changes, there will be an increase of 0.5% each year from now until July 2025 when the statutory rate will reach 12%.
  • Remember – short payment or late payment of super can incur hefty penalties – plan now for higher payroll expenses from July, so you don’t get caught short.

If you’d like help reviewing payroll costs and employee agreements, talk to us now, and we’ll make sure you have accurate reports to make planning for the rate rise easy. Getting organised now means that you’ll be well prepared for your business’s increased costs when the first payment is due later this year.

July 15, 2020 Accounts, Bookkeeping, End of Financial Year

The Fundamentals of a Business Budget

A business budget is one of the essential tools in managing your business finances and actively building your business.

A budget shows what you plan to do with your cash over the next year.

For a complete picture of your business health, you need to review the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, the cash flow forecast and the budget. Taken together, these reports allow you to make informed business decisions and monitor performance.

Why have a Budget?

  • Forecast sales and expenses according to monthly or quarterly variations.
  • Evaluate performance over time, including changes or patterns.
  • Get really familiar with where your money goes and where it comes from.
  • Clarify targets and goals and use the budget to help you focus and achieve those goals.
  • Comparing actual figures to budgeted figures allows you to see potential problems early and plan for unexpected costs.
  • A budget will help you to see the big picture and stay motivated over the long term.

Where to start

A basic budget takes known income and expenses, then makes certain assumptions about the timing of income and planned expenditure. The basic budget is based on cash in and out of the business.

Over time, as you start to see the benefits of using a budget, your budget should evolve into a more sophisticated version that includes non-cash elements such as provisions and depreciation.

Most businesses will start with one budget but soon move to having three budgets.

  1. Business as usual – the next year’s budget is based on current year income and expenses, with perhaps a small adjustment for consumer price index increases.
  2. Worst case – budget is based on a pessimistic view of next year’s performance.
  3. Best case – budget is based on an optimistic view of performance over the next year.

A budget is usually for a financial year, but you can also set up budgets for two to five years.

Once you have one budget (or more) set up, you can then run your current financial reports against the budget to see how you are tracking. This allows you to make rational business decisions in real time to adjust accordingly.

You can run your financial reports monthly and adjust your budget as needed.

What Next?

Now is a great time to put a budget into place for the coming financial year. Book a time with us to help you create a meaningful budget in your accounting software so that you can use it as a proactive part of your business management, strategy and your success.

June 3, 2020 Accounts, BAS, Bookkeeping, End of Financial Year

Get Your Business Records Ready for Your Tax Return

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Whilst it is not exactly business as usual right now, you still need to prepare for your business tax return. Organising your documents now will mean you can get your tax return completed earlier and access any refunds due or start planning for tax payments.

Getting your business records up to date and accurate will allow us to work with you proactively to plan for the coming year, which will continue to be unusual (and possibly difficult) for many.

It will also be one less thing to do when your normal business activity resumes later in the year.

What Records do you Need to Have Ready for the Tax Agent?

  • Have you bought or sold assets? If so, you need full details of acquisitions and disposals.
  • Have you taken out a new loan or other finance? You must have details of the finance arrangements and statements of monies owing at 30 June.
  • Check that any bonds or deposits paid or received have been allocated correctly.
  • Have you prepaid for insurance or other large business expenses that need to be apportioned to the following financial year? Make note of the portion applicable to the current financial year.
  • Do you carry stock? If so, you need to perform a full stocktake at 30 June (unless you qualify for the simplified trading stock rules).
  • List any doubtful or bad debts to be written off.
  • Review your debtors and creditors (accounts payable and receivable). Is the list current and correct?
  • Do you have loans with related entities? Reconcile the loans to and from each entity to ensure the same value is reported in the accounts of both entities.
  • Ensure that all payments to company directors have been correctly captured. Talk to us now if you want to make director payments before 30 June.
  • If contact details of business owners and key personnel have changed let us know.

We will let you know if there are other matters to discuss with us before completing your tax return, such as capital gains, vehicle usage, private usage apportionment or superannuation. This year, there may also be new elements to discuss if you have received refunds, credits or deferrals of business expenses and liabilities.Remember you need to keep all your business records for seven years, so store everything securely and where possible electronically for safety and ease.

Once you have all your records for the 2020 financial year, make an appointment with us to schedule in your tax return for prompt lodgement.

October 23, 2019 Accounts, Bookkeeping, End of Financial Year

Understanding Your Balance Sheet

To understand the financial position of a business at a specific point of time, look at the balance sheet. The balance sheet may also be called the statement of financial position. Together with the Profit and Loss Statement and possibly other reports such as the Statement of Cash-flow, these reports provide a complete understanding of the financial position and business performance.

So what’s involved? – The balance sheet has three sections: assets, liabilities and equity.

What are Assets?

Assets are things and resources that a company owns. They have current and/or future value and can be measured in currency.

Assets may be subdivided on the balance sheet into bank accounts, current assets, (receivable within one year), fixed assets, inventory, non-current (or long term) assets, intangible assets and prepayments.

These include banks and other financial accounts held, accounts receivable (trade debtors), supplier deposits or bonds, stock on hand, property, equipment, vehicles, investments and intellectual property. All of these can be translated into monetary value.

What are Liabilities?

Liabilities are amounts owed to suppliers and other creditors for goods or services already received. Liabilities may also include amounts received in advance for future services yet to be provided by the business.

Liabilities are generally subdivided into current (payable within one year) and non-current liabilities.

These include accounts payable (trade creditors), payroll obligations (salaries, taxes, superannuation), interest, customer deposits received, warranties and loans.

What is Equity?

Equity includes owner funds contributed, drawings, retained earnings and stocks. The value of the equity equals assets minus liabilities.

Transactions that affect profit and loss accounts also affect balance sheet accounts. For example, providing a service increases the accounts receivable balance, which therefore increases the equity.

The Balance Sheet Equation

The balance sheet must always balance! Asset value = liabilities + equity.

For example, if you buy a new vehicle for the business at say $50,000, having paid a $10,000 deposit and taking out a $40,000 loan, the value of fixed assets increases by $50k, but the bank asset value decreases by the $10k deposit paid. The value of liabilities increases by $40k loan, thus leaving the balance sheet balanced on both sides of the equation.

The balance sheet equation shows you how much money you would have left over if you paid all your bills and debts and sold all your assets at a given date. This amount is the Owner’s Equity.

Note that the balance sheet equity total is not necessarily how much the business is worth at market value. Assets are listed on the balance sheet at their transaction value, which may be very different from the market value. Some assets may be worth more and others may depreciate in value. Business value is calculated not just on the balance sheet figures but many other factors.

Need more information?

Talk to us. Get the complete picture of your business performance and financial position, regardless of what stage of business you are at.

October 9, 2019 Accounts, Bookkeeping, End of Financial Year, Uncategorized

Get Strategy at the Heart of your Successful Business

Businesses that have clear objectives or goals, robust accountability and a shared sense of purpose should always outperform those that just show up and go through the motions.

Strategy lies at the heart of most successful businesses. To achieve this you need to resource and execute with purpose. Few businesses have a strategic plan or a robust planning process. Changing this situation should be a top priority! Here are two top tips for business owners.

1. Process Creates the Plan

Getting strategy at the heart of your success will require you to carve out some time, get a process started and shake things up. There’s no better time to review and tweak your business model, future-proof compelling services and to get your strategic building blocks in place.

Just as every good strategy has key elements, every good plan needs a step-by-step process. In fact, the process is often just as important as the plan itself. A strategic planning retreat with your core team is a great way to start the process – find a spot offsite to get the creative juices flowing such as a beach, a park, or vineyard and set an agenda.

2. Key elements of an effective strategy

The key elements in a good strategy normally incorporate:

  • Vision – this is a statement that identifies what a company would like to achieve or accomplish.
  • Values – these are the fundamental beliefs upon which your business and its behaviour are based. They are the guiding principles that your business uses to manage its internal affairs as well as its relationship with customers.
  • Objectives – short term, long term. These should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound)
  • KPIs – stands for Key Performance Indicators. These are measurable values that demonstrate how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.
  • Actions – what needs to be done to meet the objectives? Make this simple and clear.
  • Owners – delegating tasks to specific owners to ensure follow through and accountability.
  • Deadlines – when your actions will be complete to ensure you make progress.

It doesn’t need to be much more complicated than that, but do invest the time and effort in doing this right. A proactive, value-add strategic model will need fresh thinking, debate, research and open conversations. Enjoy and embrace the process and you should end up with a good outcome.

Great planning requires a guide, facilitator and/or professional expertise to be as robust as possible. We can help your business and guide you through the steps.

Putting strategy at the heart of your business activity should not only give your business greater direction and focus but lead to stimulating, profitable opportunities too. It’s time to get started!

July 6, 2018 End of Financial Year

Top Tax Deductions for Tradies!

tax deductions for tradies

Tax deductions are a great way to claim back hard earned money at the End of Financial Year. Below is a list of a few common expenses that that tradies could be claiming back in their tax returns!

Transport
If you are using your vehicle as your main method of transport to get you from one job to another, then as long as you can prove that you are using your vehicle for business use, then you are able to claim back the costs associated with that vehicle.

Using one of two ways to track your mileage, you can to claim back the cost of running your vehicle for business use.  Firstly, the log book method means that you will need to prove your odometer readings for a period of at least 12 consecutive weeks. By tracking the mileage you can claim the percentage of vehicle expenses allocated to business use, including running costs and depreciation.  Alternatively, the cents per kilometre method allows you to claim $0.66 per km on up to 5,000 kilometres of business travel.

Tools and equipment
Tools and equipment that you purchase to help you run your business can be claimed and so can repairs and maintenance on the tools and equipment purchased.

Training courses, licences and certificates
If you’re undertaking any professional development or studying for any qualifications that relate to your trade, you are able to claim back the cost. The course must be to improve or maintain your skills in your profession in order to claim it as a tax deduction.

Uniform and Protective Clothing
If you purchase certain protective clothing or items for your work, such as hard hats, sunglasses or steel-capped boots, you can claim them as a deduction. This also applies to clothing needed to distinguish you from the public, like a uniform.  You can also claim the cleaning and laundry costs of your uniforms.

Communications
Don’t forget about all of that time that you spend on the telephone and sending emails for business purposes as you’re also able to claim back the cost of work related phone and internet expenses.

Travel 
Any expenses associated with travelling for work , such as accommodation, meals and transport costs e.g.  taxi fares, tolls etc, can be claimed as long as you have your receipt.

Subscriptions
Union fees and subscriptions to professional associations that relate to your business are also claimable in your tax return.

Not sure if it’s claimable or not?  Ensure you keep a copy of your invoices and receipts and if you’re not sure whether it is claimable or not, check with your bookkeeper!

If the thought of keeping track of your income and expenses is totally overwhelming, contact Flawless Figures on 0414 859 665 or email [email protected] so we can help you alleviate the stress at tax time.

June 20, 2018 BAS, End of Financial Year

Benefits of using a registered BAS Agent

What is a BAS Agent?

Anyone providing BAS services for a fee, must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board.  Once a BAS Agent is registered, they are able to perform BAS services such as working out or advising businesses regarding liabilities, obligations and entitlements.

A bookkeeper who is not a registered BAS agent is able to assist with general bookkeeping duties, however, unable to complete and submit a Business Activity Statements, Instalment Activity Statements, PAYG statements etc, on a clients behalf.

Why should I use a registered BAS Agent?

Using a registered BAS Agent provides you with:
• consumer protection through professional indemnity insurance
• extended tax and BAS lodgement due dates
• experienced and qualified agents who comply with a professional code of conduct.

To check if an agent is registered, just enter their details in the www.tpb.gov.au register or look for the registered practitioner symbol.

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